Development of soft skills in Primary Schools in the Comunidad de Madrid

Abstract

In recent decades there has been a growing interest in soft skills. There is no single definition of this concept, being common in all of them that they complement technical skills and develop personality, and that also have a special impact on the student's subsequent academic and development, and also on their well-being and social integration. The purpose of this study is to find out if educational institutions have activities related to the learning of soft skills, to what extent, and what type of skills they develop especially. To achieve this, the websites of 403 educational centers in the Community of Madrid were randomly analyzed.

The results show us that educational schools have programs and innovations in almost 80% of the pages. Regarding soft skills, around 25% of the schools have activities that develop these skills. In public schools the most relevant activities are those that have to do with communication, while in state-subsidized and private schools the most emphasis is on those related to cooperative learning. It is concluded that, although there is great interest in this type of competencies, their development is still incipient in educational centers.